Disconnected

This morning my family and I faced one of the greatest trials an early 21st century midwestern family can face... an Internet service outage. AHHHHHH!

I sometimes forget how dependent I am on the Internet, or more specifically the World Web Web, aka The Information Superhighway. No reading or writing e-mail. No checking weather forecasts. No checking the business hours for the local bank branch. No Xbox Live. (Well, actually I don't care about that one, but my boys do.) No nuthin. :( It's like when a thunderstorm knocks out electricity service for a few hours... what do you do with your time then? Talk to family members? Yeah, like that'll happen. :)

Internet access has been restored! Huzzah! Our access came back to life while I was on the phone, for the second time today, with our ISP's customer support. How convenient.

Our Kitten Is Trying To Kill Me

A few days ago, I was doing one of those things you always tell your kids not to do, but do yourself when no one's around... running through the house. I was getting ready to leave for work, and felt a need to move quickly from one end of our main floor to the other.

Unfortunately for me, our kitten Georgie decided that would be the ideal time to run at full speed up the stairs from our lower level to the main level, his path directly intersecting my own as we both ran, well for me "ran", through the house. He got caught up in my feet and spun a little off-course, while I tripped and almost fell, though didn't actually fall.

Later when I recounted this incident to another family member, her first comment was, "Is Georgie okay?" I could've broken my nose like Paula Abdul, but people are concerned about the kitten!!!

Lessons Learned

me: Don't run through the house when the kitten is in one of his hyperactive modes.

Georgie: meow! meow! meow! (loosely translated: "Where's my food, I'm hungry again!")

FHOTY

A few weeks ago, my lovely wife and I observed FHOTY (pronounced "faugh-tee", like "faulty" but more fun). What's FHOTY you ask? Well, kind reader, you've no doubt already deduced that it is an acronym, given the presence of many capital letters. If that is your deduction, you are correct. It IS an acronym! Congratulations!

FHOTY stands for "first hummingbird of the year".

My wife adores hummingbirds. A few weeks ago, we observed the first hummingbird of the year visiting one of our hummingbird traps feeders. It drank a little "nectar", squeaked "hello" to us, then flew on its way.

Have you experienced FHOTY yet?

Death of a Laptop Power Supply

This week my laptop's power supply finally died. It had been dying for quite some time now, as evidenced by the pictures below, but now it is dead. No fun little sparks jumping the gaps between bare copper wires. No power indicator lights. Nothing.

Here's a picture of the power cable going into the power supply. Notice the copper!



Here's a picture of the power cable coming out of the power supply. Notice the shiny wires!



And, lastly, a picture of the laptop. Without power. Dark and silent.

Cooler Piña Colada Gum

Some time ago while shopping at a local store, I noticed a new gum flavor called cooler piña colada. Like any other Michigander (whatever that is), I wondered how piña colada flavor would taste when it has a hint of mint. The verdict from my adoring wife? "Please don't buy that again."

So there you go folks. Stay away from cooler piña colada gum if you value your marriage!

This post was adapted from a "The Dave Report" excerpt originally written in 2005.